This invention relates generally to televisions and particularly to apparatus and methods for controlling video cassette recorders from a television and also relates to electronic guides and electronic magazines.
Previews of upcoming movies or television programs are commonly shown to generate interest in them. One technique is to show clips of the video before or after the full presentation of another program. This is done both for television programs or movies to be shown on television. Increasingly common is the inclusion of video clips of other movies on a rented video cassette tape. The renter of the video cassette tape rents the tape to watch a particular movie, but also can watch the previews, which are put onto the otherwise unused tape in the video cassette. A problem with this conventional technique is that the viewer must watch the entire tape to ascertain which previews are present.
Also increasingly common is the video cassette tape with infomercials. Usually, only one infomercial is put on a tape, for example a Plymouth Voyager advertisement, and the tape is mailed out to potential buyers. If more infomercials or advertisements are on the tape then the user must watch the entire tape to see all the advertisements. Even if a table of contents is provided at the beginning of the tape, there is no easy method of advancing the tape to the location of the selected advertisement.
It is desirable to have a common point of control for accessing programs on a video tape cassette and a television is able to provide this capability.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a television for controlling a video cassette recorder to access programs on a video cassette tape. There is also a need for a television for providing control for indexing a tape to a selected program or video.
The programming of a VCR for unattended recording was greatly simplified by the introduction of compressed codes for the channel, date, time, and length (CDTL) data for a desired program. The compressed code of Gemstar Development Corporation is known as PLUSCODE(trademark) compressed code.
The further aid in the programming for unattended recording, the program guide or schedule of programs to be broadcast over the air or by cable at a later date are available in the VBI, as full frame video, on tape, on floppy discs or in ROM. The program guide is displayed to provide the user with easy access to the guide and as an aid in programming the VCR for later recording.
In an embodiment of the present invention a television for controlling a video cassette recorder to access programs on a video cassette tape, includes means for retrieving a directory of programs from a television signal received from the video cassette recorder, means for retrieving a program identifier from the television signal received from the video cassette recorder, means for displaying the directory of programs to allow a user to select a program from the directory, means for determining from the retrieved program identifier and the selected program the amount to either advance or rewind the video cassette tape to position the video cassette tape in the video cassette recorder at the beginning of the selected program, and means for commanding the video cassette recorder to position the video cassette tape at the beginning of the selected program.
The electronic program guide of the present invention provides a video magazine format with respect to video program listings, and it also provides video program clips, to enable a user to select a video program for future viewing or recording. Advantageously, the electronic program guide of the present invention is employed in conjunction with an indexing video cassette recorder/player. The indexing video cassette recorder/player may be of the same general type described in co-pending applications Ser. No. 08/066,666 filed May 27, 1993 and Ser. No. 08/176,852 filed Dec. 29, 1993, which are incorporated herein by this reference.
In the practice of the invention, during regular broadcast hours, a particular channel such as HBO, NBC, CBS, CNN, etc., broadcasts an electronic program guide listing future programs. The program guide is preferably in the format of a video magazine, in which the video portion is divided into video sections or chapters with each chapter representing the program listings for one of a plurality of categories of programs, such as movies, sports or comedy, for example. The program listings form a menu and are arranged in a grid made up of numbered cells. The video section includes a plurality of such menus separated by a video clip relating to one of the listed programs.
During the broadcast, program-related information (PRI) is transmitted, for example, in the vertical blanking interval (VBI), or by other means, relating to the positions of each numbered cell, the start and stop addresses of video clips and also the PLUSCODE(trademark) number for the particular program.
The program guide may be recorded on tape or in RAM of the VCR. For unattended recording, the program guide may have a listed PLUSCODE(trademark) for entry by a user and decoding by the VCR to record when the program guide is transmitted (either over the air or by cable). The electronic program guide, when broadcast, is recorded in the VCR at the time of the broadcast, to be selected at a subsequent time by the user and displayed. Alternatively, the program guide may be available to the user as a prerecorded guide on tape purchased on a subscription basis or from a retail outlet.
The program guide may include PLUSCODE(trademark) numbers for ease of programming for future recording of desired programs or a cursor may be employed upon display of a selected program guide or a number may be entered that corresponds to the cell number of the desired program displayed in a numbered cell of the grid.